Soprano helicon

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Soprano helicon in E

The soprano helicon (in E) is a coiled brass instrument from the helicon family.

The design of the modern soprano helicon takes acoustical advantage of the helicon's easy blowing, but is not simply another circular

tube with a large bell for the instrument of its size. The pitch of E4 was deliberately chosen, so that musicians can easily play the soprano line within the middle register of the instrument going mostly up to G5. E4 was also chosen for its open and piercing nature within the pitched bass winds since it was intended for the Soprano helicon to become a first and leading voice of the family (speaking in terminology of the band, taking the role of 1st Flugelhorn
or 1st Cornet and not the role of Petite Bugle, or Soprano Cornet).

The crew of

middle C
. Although the intention was to make a brass wind with a voluminous dark sound, there was still problems in the case of the first prototype - mostly caused by creating a soprano instrument with a timbre of an alto.

So the next prototype, which was ready a month later, used a regular bore of B Flugelhorn and a deep cup Flugelhorn mouthpiece. The tapering of the main tube had to be reshaped but the bell size stayed the same – 160 mm (6+14 in). The instrument had four valves (the 4th used as a quart valve). The main tube was also reshaped by moving the tuning slide after the 4th valve instead of having it at the beginning like the Flugelhorns. The 4th valve also had a trigger mechanism (which is operated with the right thumb) to extend the tube for better intonation of tones between low F-sharp and pedal C. The 4th valve itself is operated by the left hand. Another characteristic of this instrument was the bore profile, which remained conical even between the valve sections. The instrument still preserved the richness and volume of the 1st prototype, had a great low register, and it also played well in the higher "soprano" tessitura.

The instrument was ready for the first public appearance.

corno da caccia, which was often composed "in D". Ferdinand and Andreas decided to equip the instrument with a set of the two tuning slides (D and E) and two 2nd valve slides. Then the Soprano helicon needed a lacquer and Melton Kunstgravur. By the end of September 2006 the first Soprano helicon was completely finished and sold to Irena Nadler
who is now the first regular student in the world, learning this instrument.

The Helicon Ensemble, conducted by

Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet and is the only helicon ensemble in the world.[1] In addition to Irena Nadler, the first professional helicon student, Vidor Krivokapic and Bruno Zizmund
also play the soprano helicon within the ensemble.

Sound characteristics

As expected, the Soprano helicon:

  • Has its own and special timbre and musical personality (to illustrate it: halfway between modern valve corno da caccia and B-flat flugelhorn)
  • It’s an easy blowing instrument, well balanced in all registers and dynamics
  • It has a useful range of more than three octaves, starting with pedal tones up to
    C6
  • It could be played easily at a high speed and has a potential to become a virtuoso instrument
  • It sounds "big enough" to bear a leading melodic line as well as in different Band scorings as in Symphony orchestra

References

  1. ^ "I.E.T. Festival for Euphonium and Tuba 2015" (PDF). IET Festival. Retrieved 2 May 2022.